Sonic The Hedgehog: Prelude To Colors
by Ultrasun2000
Summary: While trying to reach Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park, Sonic and Tails crash land on another planet called Avalice after a rude awakening from Eggman's forces. Now a world is held at Eggman's mercy, and the Chaos Emeralds are now scattered across Avalice. One of them has now ended up in the hands of a certain Sash Lilac, setting into motion a new adventure for both heroes...
1. Prologue: O Brave New World

The first thing Sonic heard as he regained consciousness was the sound of water. Almost immediately he opened his eyes, as quickly as anything else he'd done in recent memory. Recent memory…all he could remember recently was a huge battle in space aboard the Cyclone. He along with Tails had been tracking down Eggman's new Interstellar Amusement Park project...Tails! Where was he?!

But there was no time to worry now. Another countdown bell had rung. He wasn't drowning yet…he couldn't have been out for long. Opening his eyes for the first time, he looked far up at the surface of the water, seeming so far away. Thinking fast, he broke into a Drop Dash to boost his way further to the water's surface. But the density his body had in the water seemed to hinder his efforts…and then the countdown started.

Desperate to save himself, he initiated a second Drop Dash, thrusting himself to the surface faster and more desperately. Just near the surface, his limbs finally gave out, and he lost the energy to keep up, sinking as the countdown jingle in his mind increased in speed. Or was it just part of the game? The physics we're exploring here are a little wonky, plus Modern Sonic has the Drop Dash here…never mind, we're getting off script.

Just then, a mysterious figure broke the surface of the water, and while Sonic was starting to lose consciousness, he knew from what was left of his vision that she was dragging him back to land. Once he knew he was fully recovered after a few seconds, she first words he heard after the crash that knocked him out like this were "Are you hurt, citizen—oh my god, another alien?".

Sonic was looking up at a female panda, but humanoid, like him. He stared up in confusion for a few seconds before shaking off the water and leaping to his feet. "Never been better" he proudly exclaimed, before focusing on the matter at hand. "Did you see a jet of some kind crash nearby just now" he hastily inquired. "Wow, you're already recovered so fast, this is incredible", The mammal was a bit shocked "I mean yes, about half a mile in the direction of that forest." "Thanks for the assist" Sonic replied. "I've got a friend there who was with me when we crashed and I gotta check on 'im. You sit tight, 'cuz I gotta juice!" And with that, he was off, faster than the wind itself.

Neera needed some time to process this. Sure, some weird stuff had happened a lot really recently. Aliens had somehow gotten into the head of the prince of a nearby kingdom…and nobody knew. Then the Magister decided to send the two girls she had to deal with pickpocketing the rich of Dragon Valley to save the world from said evil aliens, even though she had just arrested them seemingly two seconds ago…it was just a complete mess in total, and she still couldn't make sense of what was going on. And now another alien crash after only a week…

"I wonder if it would help if I took a day off" she sighed out loud.


	2. Chapter 1: When Worlds Collide

"Hey, I'm back. How's your arm healing?'

The past week or so had not been kind to Sash Lilac. Things seemed so ordinary until the moment Torque's spaceship landed. After that her life over the next few days became a rollercoaster of near death experiences and emotional torture. Even after the battle, her wounds were too great to do so much as leave the sofa of her treehouse, and her hair could never grow back after what that damn Brevon did to her… (Some events from Thermal Base onward happened differently don't question it).

Everything after that final battle had been a mixture of painfully waiting for wounds to heal and sleeping for short times before having to wake up and keep staring at something while the others were getting supplies to help her feel better again. By far the worst thing she could see was her own reflection, that of a depressed and hurt girl having lost confidence in herself and covered head to toe in slashes and burn marks. The only things giving her the will to recover anymore were Carol and Milla's determination to help her pull through and recover.

Carol walked up to the couch and sat down on the floor next to it. "I got some Health Petals to keep you okay. I also got this." She pulled out something that resembled a Crystal Shard but bigger and far more radiant. "I thought it seemed cool, so I decided to give it to you" Carol explained. "You need anything else?"

Lilac mustered up the strength to weakly respond. "Not sure, need time to think, alone…". "Don't talk like that, Lilac" Carol fretted. "You know how much I hate it when you talk like you've given up on getting better". Lilac took the large gem in her hand and held it tightly and close. "Getting better…I still want to, but I wish the injuries I have that won't heal could heal, more than anything else…"

Then she noticed a strange glow from the gem. A vast light consumed her as Carol could do nothing but watch in awe, and even Milla seemed to drop what she had been doing to watch. As the light faded away from Lilac, it was as if all her wounds sustained had been magically healed, and even her hair was back to normal.

After mere seconds of awkward silence, all three of them gasped overdramatically. "Did,,,you just…that…" Carol stammered out. Milla had already fainted at this point. For the first time in so long, Lilac didn't feel a single part of her body that felt sore or injured. After ealizing what was going on, she jumped off the couch and Dragon Boosted out the window like she'd never Dragon Boosted before. Someone will have to pay for that window…

After flying through the air for a few seconds, she used her legs to bounce off a nearby tree, kicked her way off the roof of the house, and continued reveling in her recovery until she spotted smoke coming from the edge of the forest, and fell from losing focus. Rushing outside to help her, Milla couldn't help but notice the smoke as well.

"Someone could be hurt over there" Milla inquired. "That's true" Lilac replied, "so I'd better put to the test whether that gem really healed me or not". "The last time you checked on something like this, you got the injuries you literally JUST magically got healed from" Carol called from the window. "Yeah, but hear me out. If we save a person but get injured—or I do, anyway, it'll be worth it. Possibly. Because someone will be alive, because we did something." As Lilac rushed off into the woods, Carol could do nothing to stop her. "Fine, Little Miss Heropants, but I'm going with you because this whole Petal-that's-not-a-petal thing seems kinda sketchy." Carol hopped on her motorcycle and rolled out of sight, and Milla stood there for a few seconds before shrugging and following them.

Meanwhile, Sonic was spinning and platforming his way through Dragon Valley, when he came across something rather familiar… "A Moto Bug. So Eggman's here too." Before the small Badnik could do anything, Sonic used his Spindash to curl up into a small ball and blast his way through it, releasing the smaller animal trapped inside. "There might be other machines here, so I need to be careful" he remarked, before blasting off to the next area.

There he found the wreck of the Cyclone, along with someone working to repair it. "Tails!" The young two-tailed fox with a knack for technology heard his friend's call and looked up. "Sonic! I was worried you hadn't survived the crash." "That's pretty harsh coming from you, sayin' that to the guy who single-handedly ended the Shattered World Crisis" Sonic snarked as he rolled down the hill to his best friend. "You look okay. This planet has Badniks on it too, so we can't stay for long." Tails stared onward down the corridor to the woods. "If those robots are here, then Eggman must have crash landed here with us. He must have some motive…

After a bit of making their way through the valley, Team Lilac came across a non-damaged spaceship of large size, causing much of the apparent smoke. "Bingo" Lilac proclaimed as Carol and Milla caught up to her. "That's the biggest spaceship I've ever seen" Milla observed. "It must be five times the size of Mayor Zao's airship!"

Just then they heard a voice grumbling: "Stupid hedgehog, stupid Chaos Emeralds, stupid lack of power for the claw—Oh, finally, someone who can help me to…save…my planet!" The moment he said this, Lilac ran over to the alien, resembling more than anything a hairless monkey in a flying machine. Even if he looked strange, he seemed just as sad as she'd just been, if a bit exaggerated. "We can help you save your planet, so what do you need" she offered.

The strange creature broke down into tears as he explained. "Oh it's horrible, simply horrible. My name is Dr. Eggman. I just wanted to obtain the seven magic Chaos Emeralds to keep them out of harm's way, but this one hedgehog and his two-tailed companion keep taking them for their own thrill-seeking gain…" "Magic Emeralds…" Lilac realized what was going on as she recalled the gem that had just healed her. "Yes that must be it, the thing that restored my wounds was a Chaos Emerald!" Eggman stopped weeping to fly closer to her. "You have one of the Chaos Emeralds" he asked.

"Well we think so, anyway." Carol answered. "I bought it with me so you can see for yourself."

At that moment, Sonic and Tails happened to enter the area and witness Carol reach into her pocket, and pull out the Blue Chaos Emerald, as Eggman reached for it. "Hold it, Egghead" Sonic yelled at he jumped forward and hit the Egg Mobile, causing the Chaos Emerald to be dropped onto the ground. "Curse you, you pesky hedgehog" Eggman yelled as he was knocked into a wall.

Lilac took note of the attackers. One was a hedgehog from his spines, and the other clearly brandished two tails. It had to be the hooligans Eggman was talking about. "You just leave that nice Dr. Eggman alone so he can help your planet right now" Milla yelled at them as the rest of Team Lilac prepared for battle. Sonic put two and two together and glared at Eggman, before looking back at Team Lilac and charging a Super Peel-Out. "Fine by me, but you three are more gullible than Knuckles!" "I don't know what he said, but it sounds like trash talk" said Lilac as she began charging up a Dragon Boost of her own.

Suckers, Eggman thought to himself. Sonic released his Super Peel-Out, Lilac released her Dragon Boost, and the battle began.


	3. Chapter 2: Dueling Heroes

As hedgehog and dragon rushed forth at each other, vision seemed to become a blur that kept loving until it froze, and as the dust cleared both fighters had made the same move, rushing forward to land a hit to the stomach. Both had been punched so hard that at this moment, they could feel the shock of the attack from the perspective of birds flying away from nearby trees.

Sonic was the first to react. He grabbed Lilac's arm and Boosted for the kill. Before his opponent knew what was happening, she'd been plowed clean through a large natural rock formation and popped out along with Sonic on the top. But Lilac was by no means done yet, and she freed herself by kicking Sonic square in the jaw, knocking him over the edge and back down to the crater.

The landing of Sonic's body was hard enough to cause large and visible cracks in the surrounding area. The cracks reached Tails, Carol and Milla at roughly the same time, causing each of them to instinctively leap away at the same moment…and as all three made direct eye contact, the look in their eyes was more than enough to start a fight of their own.

The first to strike was Carol, leaping off the wall to claw at Tails. While he narrowly dodged, he then saw that Milla's guard was down and flew over to strike while he had the chance. Unfortunately his flight was just too slow, giving Milla the time she needed to knock him out of the air with a Phantom Cube, putting him directly in Carol's way…with no way out.

Sonic was woken up shortly thereafter by the sound of Tails being punched repeatedly…and by the pain of Lilac kneeing him in the stomach. "Wait, stop, Eggman's the bad guy here" Sonic yelled as a last resort. "If that were true, you wouldn't have attacked me so willingly" retorted Lilac, as she prepared her knee to get into position and break his back.

Not quite down for the count yet however, Sonic decided the time had come to truly go all-out, and broke into a Spindash, the rapid velocity burning Lilac's hands enough to make her let go. As she winced in pain, she observed Sonic move up…and fall back down to spin into her face and knock her out.

"Hang in there, Tails" Sonic called. Tails, deciding enough was enough, got serious as well, grabbing Carol by the head to slam her jaw into his knee. While he aimed for Milla next, all fighters present remembered something: the Chaos Emerald! But it was too little, too late, as Eggman had obtained it and flew off laughing maniacally.

Waking up, Lilac called to the apparently-successful alien she just helped "We were just happy to lend a hand". "Really" Eggman called back "because soon enough you'll likely be regretting it". As he flew off and disappeared inside his ship, it began lifting off into the sky. "Before I head off into space" he yelled over a loudspeaker "I think its best I dispose of the evidence". As all five looked up, the ship fired down a huge blast of energy.

Thinking quickly, Milla created a shield to protect them from the blast. While Sonic, Tails and Team Lilac were unaffected, the surroundings weren't so lucky. In an instant, they exploded in a fiery flash of light, creating a huge dust cloud that blanketed both parties as the ship flew off beyond the planet's orbit.

"Good job, Milla you…saved us" Carol managed to get out between coughing fits. She turned to Sonic and Tails. "Sorry for attacking you, that creep tricked us into thinking he just wanted to keep peace by obtaining the Chaos Emeralds." "Any peace offering from that guy is just another one of his lame excuses to nab those Emeralds and rule the world" Sonic replied. "But I accept your apology. "

"Eggman messed it up big time for Sonic and I though" Tails pointed out. "The ship we used to get here was in the blast radius, and now that it's gone we're stranded and can't get back to Earth!" After thinking it over, Sonic came to a conclusion. "Hey, you three" he asked "mind if we stay with you until we can go home?"

Team Lilac all looked at each other. Sure, they just had a pretty brutal fight with these two. On the other hand, they were now united against a common enemy, one with the means to cause large quantities of havoc and destruction to Avalice. If the duo they just met might be their only means of stopping Eggman, it was a risk worth taking.

"Sure" Lilac agreed.

A while later, the two teams were assembled in Team Lilac's treehouse as night fell. Sonic was eating some pizza and channel surfing with Milla, who was more invested at the moment in observing the first hedgehog she'd ever seen. Tails was taking a nap, exhausted from all that had happened in the day, and Lilac and Carol were out getting supplies to accomodate for the increase in people in the treehouse. As Sonic finally settled on a game show channel, Milla stopped to watch. "Oh my god, I love that show" Lilac exclaimed as she entered the house and put some heavy bags on the table. "You are aware this is a rerun, right" Carol grumpliy followed.

Suddenly, the TV jumped to static, followed by a completely new broadcast. Dr. Eggman appeared on screen, delivering a message, as Tails woke up from the sudden change of sound. "We interrupt your regularly scheduled crappy soap-operas to deliver something much more entertaining: an ultimatum for this planet's leaders! My main armada of space battleships is making it's way through this solar system accompanying a giant claw that will drag this world out of it's orbit, all the way back to my Interstellar Amusement Park as it's latest addition! Your only option is to adhere to my new ransom: six Chaos Emeralds. You have 168 hours to comply, so hop to it! Thank you for your time, and you may now go back to wasting away on the sofa."

As our heroes took in what just happened, Carol remarked "Well, lookie what the hedgehog from space dragged in". "I have done literally nothing wrong" was Sonic's only response.


	4. Chapter 3: Call To Action

The first full day of Eggman's hostage situation began with a knock on the door, answered by Milla. "Is this the residence of one 'Sasha Rizac'" General Gong, who was at the door, inquired." I think it's for you, Lilac" Sonic called, running up to take the letter and checking just to make sure it wasn't a typo. But unfortunately, there was no way to tell, because Sonic can't read Chinese.

"I think he means me" Lilac informed them, as she leaped down from the window she'd broken yesterday and swing down from a nearby tree branch. Looking out the window, Carol took note of the person talking to Lilac and screamed with pure fright. Running as quickly as she could, she yelled to everyone in earshot "We confess, we lied about Lilac's PTSD to avoid the electric bill, just don't hurt us". "Yeah, PTSD, sure, whatever" Lilac quickly replied under her breath.

General Gong stared at them for a few seconds before continuing. "Anyway, the Royal Magister heard about the valley getting turned into a wasteland by some alien demanding something called 'Chaos Emeralds', and saw news footage of you two battling some nudist aliens, one of whom drove Neera to the point of her first vacation day…ever, really." "Say what now" Sonic and Tails freaked out. "Well, yeah, all you wear are gloves and sneakers, sooooo…"

"Enough" Sonic fumed. "Just get me to this 'Magister' so I don't have to deal with this guy anymore".

Soon after, the five were standing before the Royal Magister of Shang Tu, who was eating a chocolate bar as they walked in. "Catch you on your lunch hour" Sonic remarked. The Magister just stared, so everyone took it as a yes. Finally, he spoke. "Welcome. I assume these two must be the second alien visitors this month. I'm certain you know of our world's impending crisis which the Chaos Emeralds may bring salvation to. However, we have no way to locate them, and since you are the only ones on this planet with an idea of what they are, you're also this planet's only hope."

Tails finally decided to speak for the first time since the attack almost a day ago. "I had a device that could locate Chaos Emeralds, but it was destroyed in the explosion. I could rebuild it, but it would take hours of nonstop work, and lots of advanced technology." Considering everything for the better part of like two seconds, the Magister made his final decision on the matter.

"Arrangements will be made to grant you room and board in Shang Mu for no more than three days, due to the time limit this planet is on. The advanced technology there should be enough to rebuild this Emerald locator of yours. As you know, this will be your first mission since your probation began. Unfortunately, Chief Li will not be here to supervise you, as she is staying at a local spa due to stress over recent events. You'll be on your own, but against all odds the Emeralds must be found. Besides, you remember what happened the last time I didn't listen to you. Good luck to you all, and against my better judgement, you may have this golden Timtams for good luck."

Taking the golden chocolate bar in hand, Lilac took in the weight of their mission along with everything else. She looked around the room, and then at the Magister, and worked up the courage to respond. "Your excellency, it will be done." Touched by the raw emotion and dire stakes, the nearby Bird Officer uttered a heartfelt "Weh".

Later still, during the sunset, a military escort train pulled into a government business only platform at the Central Station of Shang Mu. The first to exit were Carol and Sonic, who was intrigued by the sight of such a sprawling city's skyline. "So this Red Panda with the hat is Mayor Zao" he asked, turning to Mayor Zao (+5 OBVIOUS). "And you must be that Sanic the Hotdog guy" responded Mayor Zao.

"Well, we do have time to have some fun before the search begins" decided Carol.

Soon after, the two teams were cruising around town, blasting the Sonic 3 Competition Menu theme from a giant boombox on the top of the limo, in shades AT NIGHT, and drinking Kool-Aid from wine glasses. It almost made them forget about the ominous threat approaching from deep space. And meanwhile, in the skies above, the Kingdom Vortex lit up in certain parts from the radiant power of pure chaos.

After 20 minutes of driving about like it was prom night, the limo finally pulled up at the hotel. "Here", Mayor Zao explained, "you can stay for the maximum time given. A single hotel room with an elevator straight to the hot springs will be provided for you, along with the basement to modify whatever technology you need, and all expenses paid". "All expenses paid" Sonic asked in his SammyClassicSonicFan voice. "Okay everyone, first we'll work on Tails' stuff, then let's head down to the food court and have a drinking contest with ginger ale. Winner gets to break the system and exceed the time limit in the hot springs". "I see this as completely reasonable and not at all an unfair violation of the rules" Mayor Zao agreed (+5 PRIVILEGE).

After the elevator arrived in the basement, Tails spotted the fighter jet and was impressed. With a leap forth he declared "Let's get to work".

Since the fixing up of the plane took literal hours, along with the rebuilding of the Miles Electric to provide an explanation for the new model used in Colors, we'll just end the chapter here and say it happened offscreen.


	5. Chapter 4: Legends

_Note: Some parts of this chapter are in italics due to being extended narration by characters._

SLAM!

The sound echoed throughout the food court at the bottles filled with a mixture of several soda brands came into fast, hard contact with the table. "Okay everyone, here are the rules" explained Sonic. "First one to down the whole glass wins the contest. Bottoms up!" As everyone rushed to get the whole glass in quick enough, tensions were high among all of them, so much so that Carol even had to forfeit from choking on her own drink.

Finally, at the exact same moment, Tails and Lilac put their drinks down to declare victory. "Tiebreaker" Milla egged them on, until Tails passed out after a few seconds. "No tiebreaker" she corrected herself, as Tails hearing faded away into unconsciousness.

Shortly thereafter, he woke up on a bed in the hotel room. "Are you okay" Milla asked. "You've been out for a while." "I'll be fine" answered Tails, who was waking up. Meanwhile, Sonic and Carol were arm wrestling, so such extremes that their veins could be seen from their foreheads. "I think I'll go see what Lilac is doing" Tails awkwardly announced, intimidated by the conflict nearby.

Arriving in the hotel's hot springs after hours, Tails looked around the area. Lilac was nowhere in sight…until she suddenly burst up from underwater and grabbed a stopwatch. "Twenty minutes, a new record" she beamed. "Have you been down there holding your breath this whole time" asked Tails, as he walked into the pool and had a seat on the bench on the edge, relaxed by the feeling of being shoulder-deep in naturally-heated water.

"I'm a Water Dragon, so I can stay underwater for a really long time, so I enjoy trying to beat my old records when I have the chance" answered Lilac seating herself on the bench across from Tails. "By the way, any chance you could explain to me what Chaos Emeralds are?" "Only if you tell me what the big deal is with the vortex above your planet." "It's a deal. You go first."

And so, Tails began the history of the Chaos Emeralds and his interactions with them.

 _A long time ago, seven magic gemstones, each a different color, along with a larger and even more powerful eight one. An ancient civilization of a species on our planet called echidnas discovered them, and their clan's queen erected a shrine to them on the outskirts of their civilization. The royal alchemists created a prophecy based on their readings: "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power…power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."_

 _Things were peaceful until one day, the queen died of old age. To rule the clan, her son Pachacamac was sworn in, and began using their resources to pillage and conquer other tribes. This came to a head when the tribe's expanding borders caused them to come into conflict with the rival, more technologically advanced Nocturnus Clan. Rising tensions between the two clans soon exploded into outright war. It seemed the only way to get rid of the Nocturnus for good was to use the magic gemstones, which had come to be called the Chaos Emeralds._

 _Unfortunately for Pachacamac and his warmongering ways, his peace-loving daughter Tikal discovered that the Chaos energy had mutated the water into solid lifeforms called Chao, guarded over by the embodiment of Chaos itself. Tikal befriended the Chao and their guardian, but with her father's growing need for their power, she knew she had to do something to protect her new friends._

 _But it was too late. Most of the Chao were slaughtered, but the final straw for the Chaos creature came when Tikal was trampled to death by her father's own soldiers. Enraged, the Chaos creature wiped most of them all out, only stopped by Tikal sealing it and her own soul in the eighth emerald, called the Master Emerald, with her dying breath. To stop any further harm to the world from their power, the surrounding landmass was lifted off and became a floating island of sorts._

 _But after being scattered across Earth for a long time, the evil dictator Dr. Eggman tried to find them when he conquered the small isle of South Island. But there was one obstacle he hadn't forseen, and his name was Sonic the Hedgehog. He blasted up South Island, obliterated Eggman's control over it, and used six of the Chaos Emeralds he had found to clear the cloud of smog over the island._

 _After about a year, Sonic tracked Eggman's latest operation to Westside Island, which was where I was living at the time as an outcast due to being born with two tails. He saw how lonely I was, and my skills as a mechanic, and offered for me to join his fight against Eggman. I was like 5, I don't think I was smart enough to say no. During the journey, we assembled all seven Emeralds, Sonic fulfilled the prophecy, and we've been kicking Egg-ass and taking Egg-names ever since, aided by the power of the seven Chaos almost every step of the way._

"Your turn."

 _In ancient times on Avalice, a spaceship containing a city of aliens called Dragons, each with different powers of one of the four elements, crashed on Avalice. They bought with them an artifact filled with limitless energy called the Kingdom Stone. It's energy was shared by three monarchs, and their treaty created the three kingdoms of Shang Tu, Shang Mu, and Shuigang._

 _As time passed though, the Dragons crossbred with Avalicians and the Water Dragons vanished into extinction, except for myself of course. We thought the Kingdom Stone was running out of power, and civil war broke out among us once that dastard Brevon entered the mix. But when my friends and I defeated Brevon, I had to make the hardest decision of my life._

 _I used the last of the Kingdom Stone's power to transfer Milla's injuries to me to restart her heart._

 _And you know what? I'm damn glad I did, because it allowed the stone to revive itself into the vortex to give us more energy than ever and end the war._

Both taking In what they had heard, Tails and Lilac stared at each other as if they both had so much to ask. Finally, Lilac asked Tails "You wanna head back up and get some rest".

"Sure" Tails answered, as he climbed out of the water. "You know" Lilac remarked, "what with your two tails and all, we're both pretty rare". "Yeah" added Tails. "And you know what? I think that gives us all the more reason to stick together. From now on, let's make a promise: that no matter what, we'll pull each other through whatever Eggman throws at us…friend."

"Yeah..shake on it" agreed Lilac.


End file.
